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D.C. Judge's pants lost, he sues for $65 Million
Court Watch | 2007/04/28 17:12

Roy Pearson started legal action claiming Custom Cleaners lost a pair of suit trousers he took in for $10 alterations two years ago. The cleaners' lawyers offered to pay Pearson, an administrative law judge for the District of Columbia, as much as $12,000 to end the row. But astonishingly, Pearson is pressing ahead through the courts with the unbelievable claim for $65,462,500.
 
Pearson, an administrative law judge in Washington DC, claims he's owed the money because he devoted more than 1000 hours to represent himself in the battle.

He insists he has been put through "mental suffering, inconvenience and discomfort". And because he does not have a car, he says he'll now have to RENT one just to get his clothes cleaned at another store.

According to court papers, Pearson dropped off his trousers on May 3, 2005. But they were not ready when he returned later.

Aweek later, the cleaners came up with grey trousers they said were Pearson's - but he insisted they were not the ones he dropped off.

This week, DC Superior Court judge Neal Kravitz said: "The court has significant concerns that the plaintiff is acting in bad faith because of the breathtaking magnitude of the expansion he seeks."

Lawyer Chris Manning, representing Custom Cleaners' owners Ki, Jin and Soo Chung, said: "They have been abused in a ghastly way. It's going to cost them tens of thousands to defend this case."

The Chung family insist his trousers are still at the store, waiting to be collected.



Anti-Spam Lawsuit to Be Filed in Virginia
Court Watch | 2007/04/28 06:53

An anti-spam organization filed a federal lawsuit Thursday targeting so-called spam harvesters, who facilitate the mass distribution of junk e-mail by trolling the Internet and collecting millions of e-mail addresses. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria by a Utah company called Unspam Technologies Inc. The company runs a Web site called Project Honey Pot dedicated to tracking spam harvesters worldwide.

Project Honey Pot has collected thousands of Internet addresses that it has linked to spam harvesters, but it so far has been unable to link those addresses to an actual person.

The lawsuit names a variety of John Does as defendants, and the plaintiffs hope that the legal process will allow them to track the actual people who are harvesting the e-mail addresses, said lead attorney Jon Praed with the Arlington-based Internet Law Group.

Collecting e-mail addresses is not by itself illegal, but Praed said the plaintiffs will be able to link the harvesting to spam e-mails, which are illegal under federal and state laws. Those laws allow individuals who receive unwanted spam to seek civil damages.

Praed said legitimate businesses are afraid to post e-mail addresses on their Web sites for fear that automated Web crawlers will find the addresses, record them and sell them to spammers who will inundate them with junk e-mail.



Nevada court OKs lawyer advertising rules
Court Watch | 2007/04/27 08:51
Rule changes to ensure lawyers' ads are accurate and that clients aren't misled were approved Thursday by the Nevada Supreme Court. But justices say they can't demand that ads be in good taste. "Citizens often choose lawyers based solely on their advertisements," said Justice James Hardesty, who helped get the new rules passed. "Because choosing a lawyer can be such an important decision, we want our citizens to have accurate and complete information."

"Lawyer advertising, because of its sheer volume, touches virtually everyone in Nevada and influences the public's perception about attorneys in general," said Chief Justice William Maupin.

One new rule prohibits lawyers from making claims that create an unjustified expectation about the outcome of a case. If a law firm advertises that it has obtained certain verdicts, for example, it must be able to provide proof.

Another reform requires that ads promoting a fee arrangement must advertise the entire arrangement. Justice Hardesty noted that one law firm advertised a low-percentage contingency fee, but didn't say the fee escalated if the case was not resolved in 30 days.

What will no longer be regulated is whether or not an ad is in bad taste.

"Taste is something we cannot govern without infringing on First Amendment rights," said Hardesty. "So restrictions on taste will be eliminated, but the new rules will make sure the content is not false or misleading."

Under the new rules, taking effect Sept. 1, lawyers must submit their ads to the State Bar for review within 15 days after publication or broadcast. If an ad is deemed to be inaccurate or misleading, it must be pulled. Attorneys can submit ads in advance for an advisory determination.

Because advertisements generally don't reveal a lawyer's background, attorneys also must provide their resumes to clients who request them.



Two plead guilty to buying, selling illegal whale teeth
Court Watch | 2007/04/27 04:47

An antiques dealer from Blue Bell and the former director of a whaling museum pleaded guilty yesterday to charges they illegally imported hundreds of sperm whale teeth from England and sold them to U.S. merchants who specialize in scrimshaw.

Martin Schneider, 60, got the teeth of the endangered whale in Britain and smuggled them into the country by hiding them among other goods he was importing. Prosecutors said he sold more than $500,000 worth of teeth from 1995 to 2005.

Lewis Eisenberg, 61, the former director of the Whalers Village Museum in Lahaina, Hawaii, bought teeth and resold them to collectors, many of whom trade in scrimshaw, an art form in which designs are etched into whale bone. Eisenberg, of Oak Harbor, Wash., sold teeth he got from Schneider for more than $45,000.

Both men pleaded guilty to violations of the Endangered Species Act, the Mammal Protection Act and the Lacey Act, which forbids the import or export of wildlife that is illegally transported or sold.

Acting on a tip, federal agents bought two whale teeth from Schneider in March 2005 for $2,100. Customs agents at Philadelphia International Airport later intercepted a package of his that contained eight more teeth, authorities said.

Investigators found records at his home showing he had sold $540,000 worth of teeth over 10 years.

Schneider's attorney, Gerald Stein, said his client believed the teeth came from whales that were killed by Russian fishermen before the implementation of the Endangered Species Act.

"He thought that these teeth were acquired at a time when it was legal to acquire them," Stein said.

Under federal guidelines, prosecutors said Schneider will likely get 30 to 37 months in prison, while Eisenberg is likely to get 10 to 16 months. Both face thousands of dollars in fines.

Authorities said the arrests came as part of a nationwide investigation, which has led to one other conviction in Hawaii. But many collectors who bought teeth have not been located.



'Spambot' creators facing federal lawsuit in Virginia
Court Watch | 2007/04/27 02:33

A Utah-based anti-spam technology company filed a lawsuit in US District Court in Alexandria Thursday in an effort to identify the people behind so-called "spambots", programs that search the Internet for e-mail addresses to sell to spammers. Unspam Technologies Inc. operates a spam harvester-tracking Web site called Project Honey Pot that has collected thousands of Internet addresses connected to spam harvesters. It has been unable to link those addresses to actual people, but hopes to do so during the discovery process of the lawsuit, said plaintiff's lawyer Jon Praed. Although collecting e-mail addresses is not illegal, using that information to spam is prohibited under federal and state laws. Praed said Unspam can show that the emails were collected for that purpose.

This is the latest effort to combat the growing problem of Internet spam. In 2004, a Maryland judge struck down as unconstitutional the state's 2002 Commercial Electronic Mail Act, the first state law to punish senders of spam. Also in 2004, several major Internet companies filed anti-spam lawsuits under the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which prohibits deceptive or abusive web advertising techniques such as the use of false return addresses or misleading subject lines to trick users into opening messages.



Retrial Scheduled to Begin in Decade-Old Murder Case
Court Watch | 2007/04/26 00:03

Opening statements are scheduled today in the retrial of an Iowa man who became the youngest person on death row in Illinois when he was found guilty of a double-murder in 1996.
Daniel Ramsey of Keokuk, Iowa, was 19 when he was convicted of fatally shooting two Hancock County girls as well as wounding his ex-girlfriend and two toddlers.

His former girlfriend -- 17-year-old Rachel Sloop -- testified in the trial about watching her sister die of gunshot wounds and laying wounded as Ramsey dripped blood on her.

Ramsey's videotaped confession to police was included in his first trial, but his conviction was overturned in 2000.

The Illinois Supreme Court ordered a retrial after finding that Ramsey was tried under an insanity defense law that was later ruled improper.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



Ex-teacher pleads guilty in sex case
Court Watch | 2007/04/25 02:06

The former Brighton Charter Academy teacher accused of fondling one of her students and providing him with alcohol during an overnight trip to Estes Park pleaded guilty Tuesday to three charges.

Carrie McCandless, 29, pleaded to tampering with physical evidence, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and unlawful sexual contact.

Under the plea agreement, McCandless avoids prison, but will serve 45 days in the Larimer County jail. She also will serve a 5 year deferred sentence and will spend time in a sex offender program with intensive supervised probation. A sentencing hearing for McCandless is scheduled for June 8.

"Due to the possible consequences of going to trial and being unsuccessful, Ms. McCandless felt like she was in a position that she had to accept the plea bargain," defense attorney Trent Trani said.

McCandless was charged with sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

"There was never any kind of sexual intercourse or anything other than Mr. Clay fondling her," Trani said. "It's ridiculous to assert that she subjected him to this contact and I think that's what should have been heard by a jury."

The victim, Tommy Clay, appeared on national TV last month. Clay said he and McCandless became friends during a summer school session because he found it easy to talk with her.

Clay said when another teacher discovered the relationship, "I told Mrs. McCandless that I would take the fall for it. I didn't want her ending up losing her job and I figured I had a lot less to lose than she did."

She was 29 and Clay was 17 at the time, authorities said. McCandless was fired. Her husband, Chris, is principal of the school in Brighton, on the northeast edge of the Denver area.



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